LITTLETON — As a veteran of nine state championship games as a coach, as well as an astute viewer of college basketball, Joe Ortiz is more than familiar with ebb-and-flow possibilities.
Friday night, the coach’s ThunderRidge Grizzlies experienced one they will see more than once.
In what can be described as gutting one out or surviving an ugly one, the Grizzlies held off host Heritage 54-44 to open Continental League play and improve to 13-1.
ThunderRidge, ranked No. 2 in The Associated Press Class 5A media poll, had better get used to it, Ortiz said. The Continental, probably the state’s best, has begun league play.
“I was telling the guys before the game, look at the college games,” Ortiz said in pointing to the major powers getting everyone’s best shots. “They fight for their lives. League teams know each other. League teams have environments that help the home teams.”
Indeed, the Eagles (8-5) scrapped, clawed and battled most of the game, forging a 24-24 tie at halftime before fading late. They were outscored 13-2 during the third quarter, made only 1-of-10 shots and couldn’t deal with the taller, longer Grizzlies.
ThunderRidge had its own issues, particularly protecting the ball and making only 9-of-17 free throws.
Heritage coach Jentry Byleveld was successful in getting his guys to force an up-tempo game, but the Grizzlies finally adjusted.
“Definitely, coming from (nonleague games to league) is a big jump,” senior Noah Szilagyi said. “It’s absolutely the toughest league, so we can’t take anyone for granted. Heritage brought a great crowd and has a lot of guys who play well together.”
Szilagyi topped ThunderRidge with 14 points and Austin Mueller had 12. Eric Lawson led Heritage with 14.
Neil H. Devlin: ndevlin@denverpost.com or
ThunderRidge 19 5 13 17 — 54
Heritage 12 12 2 18 — 44
ThunderRidge — Szilagyi 4 3-4 14, Mueller 4 1-2 12, Pirog 3 4-8 10, Tiedgen 3 1-3 7, Varto 1 0-0 3, Bllom 0 0-0 0, Verk 1 0-0 2, Brady 1 0-0 3, Harhigh 1 0-0 3, Engel 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 9-17 54.
Heritage — Peck 4 0-2 9, McCauley 2 1-1 6, Lundberg 0 0-0 0, Skufca 4 2-2 12, Lawson 6 2-2 14, Pless 0 0-0 0, Carlson 0 1-2 1, Ornelas 0 2-2 2, Opitz 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 8-11 44.
3-point goals — Mueller 3, Szilagyi 3, Brady, Harhigh, Varto; Skufca 2, McCauley, Peck.
